16 Reasons Why Nakia Would Own Black Widow On The Battlefield
Mia Horton Quick Links
We are now living in the golden age of superhero movies and it is a trend that every major studio seems to be following. On one hand, we have DC, which is currently struggling to establish a solid cinematic universe, however, on the other hand, we have Marvel, guys who have been at it for almost 10 years now, carefully building on their characters and eventually heading towards what will be the grand finale, Infinity War.
One of the more recent movies to come out has been Black Panther and it has quickly become a success at the box office, partially because of its cool action sequences, but mostly because of its amazing representation of the African culture. Many new characters were introduced but perhaps the one to stand out the most was Nakia. Once people are familiar with comic book characters, it is not uncommon to think how most of them would stack up against each other. We decided to compare an old favorite, Black Widow, to Nakia, both who are a part of the Marvel universe and came up with 15 different reasons why we believe that Nakia would absolutely beat Black Widow if they were to ever fight on the battlefield.
She Has Better Powers
Since Nakia was born in Wakanda and is thus, a Wakandan, she has access to better technology and weapons than Black Widow. Her weapons mostly consist of Vibranium ring blades, a projectile spike launcher, different poisons, including “Jufeiro,” and many others. Jufeiro would allow her to control men and make them have a passion for her. She is extremely skilled in hand-to-hand combat and is an expert in using many Wakandan weapons. She also has enhanced strength which was given to her by Killmonger when she was bathed in the “Altar of Resurrection." On the other hand, Black Widow is just a trained assassin of Shield who happens to later join the Avengers because of her affiliation with Nick Fury.
She Is One Of The Best Warriors In Wakanda
Nakia joined the Dora Milaje at the age of 14 and during her training years, she learned many Wakandan martial art skills and the use of Wakandan weapons. For those who don’t know, the Dora Milaje is a fictional group, comprised entirely of women who are the special forces of Wakanda and swear their loyalty to the king. Nakia was the best among all the “adored ones” in the Dora Milaje. Despite this, she did not accept the post of the commander of the Dora Milaje. The fact that she is the best warrior in Wakanda could be observed during her fights with Killmonger in the movie, Black Panther, where Killmonger was on par, if not better, than Black Panther at the time and was easily handling even the most skilled fighters of the Dora Milaje.
She Is Reckless And Limitless
In the comics, after Nakia was banished from the army, she was filled with anger and hate for the king, which made her very dangerous. She loved Black Panther and as she had nothing to lose anymore, she became quite dangerous and reckless. On the other hand, Black Widow had signed the Scandinavian accords, which limit her to work under the jurisdiction of the law. Nakia has no boundaries in regard to what she can do or become after she got the powers from Killmonger through the Altar, which gave her superhuman strength and more. A person filled with hate and with the right resources at the same time has all the motivation in the world to do whatever they want to. Black Widow simply isn’t as independent as Nakia when it comes to saving the world on her own.
She Has Better Combat Gear
Wakanda, apart from its advancements in technology, is famous for its Vibranium. This was portrayed in the movie to such a degree that the Wakandans even sew it in their clothes. Just imagine, if Nakia has an armor made of it, which stores kinetic energy just like Black Panther’s suit, she could defeat Black Widow within minutes. Apart from this, Natasha Makarov once came face to face with Nakia in the comic, Black Panther (Earth-616), where she herself realized that Nakia is immensely skilled, which, in turn, caused her to back off from the fight. So, there is simply no doubt about the fact that Nakia is not only better in hand-to-hand combat but also when it comes to the weapons.
She Is A Better Spy
Black Widow is a spy, which is something that we get to see in Age of Ultron, as well as in other Avenger movies, but so is Nakia. So the question arises, who is better? Well, if you look at the scene where Killmonger takes the heart-shaped herb to gain the panther’s powers and burns the rest of the herbs, at that moment, he has the ability to observe his surroundings just like a panther since he has super hearing and vision. Even at that point, Nakia manages to sneak up on him and take the herb to save Black Panther. We see her deceiving a man with superhuman abilities before she had any superpowers of her own and that is some amazing spy work and it is way cooler than anything Black Widow has ever done on the big screen.
She Has Been On The Wrong Side
Sometimes a hero needs to go over on the villain side to really discover themselves and to figure out how the bad guys really work, after all, that is one of the most effective ways of understanding them and then eventually defeating them. After she was resurrected by Killmonger, Nakia, and Killmonger became allies. This means that she was a hero as well as a villain in the MCU. This idea of her being a villain turned her into an asset for the king. With her connections with the enemies of Wakanda, she has more chances of getting a job done than Black Panther does. Because sometimes being just a spy can’t really help you get there and you need someone to be ready to do the impossible which Nakia has always done.
She Is A Better Pilot
She’s not just a soldier on the ground, but also well-educated in the art of flying jets, because let’s be honest, that is a skill one must definitely have if there is any hope of surviving inside the Marvel universe. Black Widow has always been seen kicking, punching, and soaring through the air but never has she been seen flying a plane, at least, not on her own, so the Avengers Quinn Jet doesn’t really count, which limits her to the ground while she’s on a mission. Whereas, Nakia can be out there solo. Nakia is not just an expert in Wakandan tech, she’s got an experience with a lot of other things as well. While she was on a mission in the outskirts of Africa, she got an old car running from scraps, which proves that she is a great asset in the field.
She Does Not Rely On Technology
Her favorite weapon, apart from her iconic blades, is the Wakandan spear, which was also used in the movie by all of the Dora Milaje. This spear is not a regular spear, for it stores the energy of the incoming blow from the opponent and can be released by the user of the spear. Black Widow only uses technology given to her by S.H.I.E.L.D and it is only with those weapons that she can manage with her own skill, all of which are inferior when compared to Wakandan tech. The use of this spear shows Nakia’s love for her country and that she knows where she’s from and what she represents. Wakndan people in the comics have always shown their patriotism and Nakia has never backed down from being a true Wakandan.
She Is Responsible For The Safety Of Her People
One of the reasons why Nakia ended up joining Killmonger was that she did not want her kind to suffer the atrocities that they were facing in the world. Her first appearance in the comic book world was around the '80s and in that era, the black community was not being treated in the most humane way possible. The whole concept of the Black Panther character and its lore was to give more power to the people of color and thus, Nakia is the exact representation of this idea. The concept of Wakanda helping black people was given to Nakia, which she shared with Killmonger later in the comics. She aided both T’Challa and Killmonger along the way in this quest.
She Knows More Languages
Apart from having a perfect command over many different African languages, Nakia is also quite fluent in Korean, Arabic, Yoruba, Hausa, and many of the other European languages. This skill of hers was seen in the movie when Black Panther first followed Klaw in Korea and when Black Panther was out to rescue Nakia, not that she needed any rescuing. In Korea, it was her contacts and knowledge of the language that helped the group enter the club. On the other hand, all we’ve seen Black Widow do is speak a little Russian, which isn’t that big of a deal since that is her mother's native tongue. She might know different languages, as she’s an agent, but she’s never seen using those skills.
She Is More Open To Embracing Change
Nakia is a spy and her allegiance has always been towards Wakanda because, for her, the good for her country comes first. Yet, she is seen in the movie defying the lifelong decision of allegiance to the Wakandan government to stay away “hidden in the shadows” from the rest of world. A big reason for this is that she strongly believes in going out into the world and helping people with all of the technology that they have. After Killmonger’s death, she emphasized again on the point that with the resources they have they can change the world, after which, T’Challa finally agreed. This change in the thinking of the king couldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for her and Black Panther’s sister Shuri.
She Isn’t Hyped Up On Strength Serums
Black Widow is said to have the peak strength and peak senses a human can have and it’s because of the serum she was given after joining S.H.I.E.L.D. This serum is similar to that of Captain America’s but different in a sense that it doesn’t grant the person superhuman strength. Also, as a side effect of the serum, Black Widow can never get pregnant, which means that there are severe side effects of taking the serum. Nakia, on the other hand, was not only an experienced warrior without any serums, but later when she was given her powers via the altar of resurrection, she experienced no side effects. This definitely puts her a level above Black Widow because all of her skill comes naturally from years of training with the Dora Milaje.
Black Widow Was Tricked Into Being Black Widow
The story of Black Widows goes that she was once married forcefully to a Soviet pilot when she was young and they lived happily for a few years. However, this marriage was very short lived since the KGB ended up faking the pilot’s death, after which she joined the Red Room Project. It focused specifically on training young girls and giving them enhancement serums, after which, they would usually be rendered infertile but become soldiers and spies, thus, leading to the creation of Black Widow. On the other hand, if you look at Nakia’s life, she was never forced into joining Dora Milaje, nor did she join forces with Killmonger under any sort of influence. She was never manipulated into doing anything, which technically makes her stronger, both mentally and physically, than Black Widow.
She Is The Jack of All Trades
Though some might disagree with this one, the facts and figures in the comic are different from common opinion. Nakia has not only been a spy but has served in the Wakandan army, alongside the king, as a pilot, as an enemy to the throne, as a lover, and much more. Nakia has always appeared as a strong independent and a self-conscience woman. Whatever character she’s given, win or lose, she never backs down from a fight. Black Widow has law stopping her from doing certain things but Nakia doesn’t have anything to lose.
Her Sole Motivation Is Her Hate
Unlike most of the characters in the MCU, Nakia is driven by hate. Black Widow, after she was brainwashed, grew affectionate towards Hawkeye and eventually the Avengers. She is driven by her loyalty to her comrades but Nakia loves Black Panther in a way that shows that he’s an obsession for her. At a much later time in the comics, all this love turns to hate when her relationship with Black Panther sours, allowing Nakia to channel all of that negative energy into combat, which is quite a deadly combination. According to Nakia herself, after she was banished from Wakanda for treason, hate was the only thing that helped her survive in the harsh environment outside Wakanda.
She Is More Than Just A Fighter
Even though Nakia was the daughter of a fisherman, education was valued a lot in their family. Along with the training to become Dora Milaje, she studied all she could about the modern day weaponry and strategy which helped her become more than just a spy. It’s not just Nakia, all of Wakanda promotes education to keep them up to date with the modern world and keep them ahead in terms of technology and resources. On the other hand, in Russia, back in Black Widow’s early age women were treated badly and there was no importance given to their education. Survival of the fittest was the rule and lucky for her, Black Widow made it. Nakia not only puts herself in dangerous situations on purpose but also always came out on top.
